Brinsley Colliery was a coal mine in west

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

, close to the boundary with

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, in what is now Broxtowe district.

History

It was opened around 1842. It closed as a working pit in 1934 when the seams were exhausted. The shafts were kept open until 1970 for access to neighbouring pits.

Production

It was originally sunk to 450 ft (137m). A second shaft was sunk in 1872 to 780 ft (238m), and the tandem headstocks were built with this shaft. At peak of production, it was producing 500 tons of coal a day, employing 361 men, of whom 282 worked at the

coal face ''Coal Face'' is a 1935 British documentary film short directed by Alberto Cavalcanti. With a film score by Benjamin Britten and a poem written and narrated by W.H. Auden, the film gives a glimpse into the lives of a Yorkshire mining community a ...

Current site

It is now reclaimed and is a picnic site and conservation area, east of the fast-flowing busy A608 road between Eastwood and junction 27 of the M1 at

Felley Felley is a civil parish in the Ashfield district, in Nottinghamshire, England, located between Hucknall and Sutton-in-Ashfield. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of four. At the 2011 Census the population remained minim ...

20th century literature

Arthur John Lawrence (18 June 1847 – 1924), father of David Herbert Lawrence, from

Eastwood Eastwood may refer to: Places ;in Australia *Eastwood, New South Wales **Eastwood railway station **Electoral district of Eastwood *Eastwood, South Australia ;in Canada * Eastwood, Ontario *Eastwood, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighborhood ;in the Ph ...

, worked at the pit. Arthur Lawrence was born in Brinsley. Arthur Lawrence's father, Bert, worked at the pit. DH Lawrence's mother came from a middle-class background. There is also reference of this mine in DH Lawrence's short story

Odour of Chrysanthemums "Odour of Chrysanthemums" is a short story by D. H. Lawrence. It was written in the autumn of 1909 and after revision, was published in ''The English Review'' in July 1911. Lawrence later included this tale in his collection entitled '' The Prussia ...

and this is a focal point of life in the novel In his book ''

Sons and Lovers ''Sons and Lovers'' is a 1913 novel by the English writer D. H. Lawrence. It traces emotional conflicts through the protagonist, Paul Morel, and his suffocating relationships with a demanding mother and two very different lovers, which exert c ...

'', published in May 1913, the colliery is called ''Beggarlee''. In 1999 the

Modern Library The Modern Library is an American book publishing imprint and formerly the parent company of Random House. Founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright as an imprint of their publishing company Boni & Liveright, Modern Library became an ...

ranked ''Sons and Lovers'' as ninth in their

Modern Library 100 Best Novels Modern Library's 100 Best Novels is a 1998 list of the best English-language novels published during the 20th century, as selected by Modern Library from among 400 novels published by Random House, which owns Modern Library.Jessica Woodbury"Back A ...

, with people regarding it as his best book. ''Beggarlee'' is also the name of another nearby former pit. The headstocks of the pit appear in the opening scenes of the 1960 film of the book.NERC
/ref> The film, directed by

Freddie Francis Frederick William Francis (22 December 1917 – 17 March 2007) was an English cinematographer and film director. He achieved his greatest successes as a cinematographer. He started his career with British films such as Jack Cardiff's ''Sons and L ...

, won the 1960

Academy Award for Best Cinematography The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work on one particular motion picture. History In its first film season, 1927–28, this award (like others such as the acting awards) ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Lawrence in the East Midlands

The Friends of Brinsley Headstocks
1842 establishments in England 1970 disestablishments in England Coal mines in Nottinghamshire D. H. Lawrence Underground mines in England British companies established in 1842 Energy companies established in 1842 Borough of Broxtowe